Snow-shovel



I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

HENRY W. STAPLES, OF OLD ORCHARD, MAINE.

SNOW-SHOVEL.

SPECIFICATION forming .part of Letters Patent No. 258,260, dated May 23, 1882.

' Application filed February 20, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY W. STAPLES, of Old Orchard, of the county of York, of the State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Snow-Shovels; and I do hereby declare the same to be described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a top View, Fig. 2 a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a bottom view, of a snowshovel of my invention, which consists mainly of a shovel and a pair of runners fixed to the lower side of the blade, such runners not being extended to the cutting or front edge of the blade, but terminating at a distance therefrom equal to about one-third the length ofthe said blade, in order that they may not obstruct the entrance of the blade into the snow, such blade on its upperside being usually provided with an end and two side guards, as represented.

In the drawings, A denotes the shovelblade, andB its handle, while 0 O are the runners, D the rear guard, and E E the two side guards, all being formed and arranged substantially in manner as represented.

This shovel I usually construct with a blade about three feet square, although I do not confine such blade to such dimensions. It may be constructed of wood and have at itsforward end a metal shoe or plating. The end and side guards are strips of wood extending up from the blade, and are to guard the snow from escaping off the blade, except when the shovel may be turned over to discharge its load.

To use this shovel in order to clear a sidewalk or other surface of snow, a person is to.

grasp the handle and push the shovel along over such surface, with the front end of the blade tipped, so as to cause the blade to enter or pass underneath the snow to be raised, the runners enabling the shovel to be worked with little friction and resistance in comparison to what would result were it without them.

' I do not claim a shovel-blade made of wood and sheathed with metal on its opposite sides, and provided with metallic runners to extend rearward from the cutting-edge oi the said shovel, all as shown in the United States Patents Nos. 173,209 and 180,543; nor do I claim a shovel having guides or lips extending up from the lateral and rear edges of its blade.

What I claim as my invention is as follows, viz

1. As ,an improved manufacture, a snowshovel having attached to its blade end and side guards to project upward therefrom, and also having a pair of runners, G 0, attached to the under surface of such blade, and having their front ends in rear of the front edge of such blade a distance of one-third the length of the blade, or thereabout, all being substantially as set forth.

2. As an improved manufacture, a snowshovel having a pair of runners, O 0, attached to the under surface of the blade, and having their front ends in rear of the front edge of such blade a distance of one-third the length of the blade, or thereabout, all being substantially as set forth.

HENRY W. STAPLES.

Witnesses:

GEo. A. EMERY, HAMPDEN FAIRFIELD. 

